​NASCAR's Joey Logano Wants You to Drive Better on the Highway

Joey Logano would like us to be better highway drivers. Nothing ticks off the 26-year-old NASCAR driver than seeing someone rip up a massive thoroughfare, thinking they’re, well, a professional racecar driver. “It’s dangerous and dumb,” Logano tells Men’s Health. “Keep your racing to a track.”

Unsurprisingly, that’s where Logano shines. The Team Penske driver, who competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, has a number of accolades under his belt. Twenty-one days after his 18th birthday, Logano became the youngest driver to win a Nationwide Series race; he took the checkered flag at the iconic 2015 Daytona 500; and he’s notched top 10 finishes hundreds of times.

We talked to Logano about how to be a better daily driver, his feelings on the new NASCAR race formats, why he eats as much as he can on race day and about that pit lane fight with Kyle Busch.

Men’s Health: We know you’re lightning on a track, but how are you as a daily driver?

Logano: Pretty normal, actually [Laughs] I usually drive an older car to keep me out of trouble. I don’t really go fast [on public roads.] I’ve got an old ‘59 Cadillac and an older Chevrolet Suburban and some other old toys to have fun with. I enjoy driving something unique, nothing fast. I get plenty of that at work.

Most of us are bad highway drivers. What are the top transgressions we’re committing out there?

Man, those people who just hang out in the left lane… [Laughs] Especially when they’re going slower than the speed limit. That gets everyone frustrated. Move to the right if you want to go slower. On the other hand, someone racing down a four-lane road is not acceptable at all. The highway is not a place for racing. That makes me mad. There are plenty of places to race if you want to do that with your street car. On a highway, with different levels of experienced drivers, and cars with babies in them, it’s not good to see how fast you can go. What ticks me off the most is when I see someone weaving through traffic.

People who hit the brakes whenever they see anyone else hit the brakes [aren’t great]. That’s going to cause a chain reaction and slow everyone down, especially in heavy traffic. Granted, I’m a little biased because I’m used to being on a race track where there’s no gap between cars. We’re actually hitting each other. Leaving a gap between you and the car in front of you will help you avoid incidents more. Lastly, you should make sure you have great brakes. You always need to stop.

Before you upgrade a motor, you should upgrade your brakes.

Amen. Especially in older cars where it takes a lot more to stop them. If I’m doing a resto-mod, the first thing I’m doing is a better brake package, from rotors to pads and calipers. Anything can happen at any second. You need to be able to stop. I like Duralast GT brakes from AutoZone, which are what we use on my NASCAR. We brake 1,000 times in four hours and brake temperatures can get over 1,000 degrees. If they work on my race car, they’ll work on yours.

I like the new format and stages. The strategy that now plays out is crazy. You can’t have a bad moment, because you have to pay that penalty. Our finishes have been really good. It’s definitely a different type of race, with natural breaks in the race, which is good. You can win a stage and still get some points, which gives you something at the end of the day even if you’re not on the podium.

How does the change affect your race strategy?

It gives us a bunch of new challenges. From a fuel perspective, you have to rethink how many how many fuel stops you should be doing. Same goes for tires. Tire wear differs heavily from track to track. That strategy is something we’ve had to work out a lot. At this point, the fastest car may not win the race. [Being fast] helps, but you have to think about strategy and making the right calls a lot and much of that depends on what other people are doing.

Are the stages and mandatory restarts annoying? Seems that when you have a tightly packed field, there are more crashes and that can slow down the race.

It’s interesting. It doesn’t bother me. I think it’s great for the racer and the fans. When that intensity level picks up, that’s good. If you compare it to other sports, like football when they have a fourth down and it’s a do-or-die moment. In racing, now we have that moment. When these stages come to an end, the intensity ratchets up and it gets crazy. It’s good. That’s what NASCAR should have.

Sometimes that intensity spills into pit row. Recently, Kyle Busch came into the pits after you two collided during the Kobalt 400, punched you and tried to fight.

Things happen in the heat of the moment. You may act differently at that exact moment than when you have a little bit of time to think. That’s sports, right? There are 40 drivers with one goal. And only one of us wins. You can imagine the intensity and you can see how hard we’re racing each other you can see how feelings get hurt.

What happened after that skirmish? Did you and Kyle smooth it out?

Everything’s fine. We were able to sit down and talk. There are two sides to every story. I told him my side and he told me his and we may or may not agree on everything. But it’s all out there in the open now.

Fair enough. Your car runs on special fuel. What are you eating for maximum performance?

It’s more volume; I’m eating as much as I can. [Laughs] Chicken, salmon, brussels sprouts, a few Cliff Bars; whatever I can get my hands on, I’m eating. A four-hour race inside a 140-degree car without air-conditioning is tough. You have to stay focused. Lose that and you don’t miss a shot or a pass—you crash and it’s the end of your day. My heart rate during a race is about 155 and spikes up to 165 towards the finish. You can imagine the stress on my body.

What about after you win? What’s your go-to victory meal?

Winning’s great. It’s the best thing ever. It’s also the worst because you’re hungry as can be. After you win, you don’t get a break until a few hours after the race. You have media obligations, taking pictures, doing interviews. By the time you’re able to eat, it’s three hours later and you’re starving. I just eat whatever’s around that I can get my hands on. [Laughs] Best problem you can ever have.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Men's Health participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.